Mom to be rescues little boy wandering city streets

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OKLAHOMA CITY - A woman who is 36 weeks pregnant went above and beyond, risking her safety to save a stranger.

That stranger was a little boy in need of help.

It's a mystery what the four-year-old boy with autism had on his mind when he ran away from Monroe Elementary, and it was a mystery mother-to-be who risked it all to rescue him.

"To put her life second, her child's life second, to save another child, it's incredible," said Joel Decker.

Decker lives near the busy intersection where the little boy was wandering, 50th St. and Villa.

"Traffic is unbelievable," said Decker. "Stop signs get run constantly."

The woman noticed the child near the busy intersection.

Reports say he tried to run from her, but she went after him. All the while, he was kicking and scared. She kept him still and safe until police arrived and realized he belonged at the school.

"It could have been a real tragedy," said Sam Lasala.

A parent himself, Lasala was stunned to hear a similar scenario played out at the same school, one week later.

A kindergartener ran away and made it to the busy intersection of May Ave. and 50th St.

"That's a lot further. Wow. That's horrible," said Decker.

We wanted to know just how long these kids were gone.

So reporters walked it themselves. From the elementary school to Villa and 50th St. was a four minute walk.

From the school to May Ave and 50th St., it was a ten minute walk.

That's if the children took the same path and walked the same pace.

One thing is certain, they had to pass a lot of fast cars.

As for the mystery mom to be, she sent this message: "... I just did what I would hope anyone would do! I'm not at all looking for any recognition..."

The community sends her a message as well.

"That's an amazing thing that she did, and that's an amazing human being," said Decker.

Contrary to what police say, the Oklahoma City Public School District says the child with autism ran away during a bathroom break.

Their statement is below:

“We are grateful that our schools have supportive citizens who care about our students and were able to assist Monroe Elementary staff in locating the student. The incident on May 5th happened when the teacher opened the classroom door to allow students a bathroom break; at that time the student in question ran down the hallway and out of the building. A separate incident happened Monday morning right at the start of the school day, a Monroe kindergarten student was given permission by a teacher to go to the restroom but instead left the building. The school’s principal located the student, addressed the issue with staff and has made security improvements to prevent similar occurrences from happening again.” –Tierney Tinnin, OKCPS Spokesperson